Australian Ambassador's visit to Son La- A great honor for Bamboo shoot project - Center for Rural Economy Development (CRED)

During the official business trip to Son La province on April 12, 2022 of the Australian Ambassador – Ms. Robyn Mudie, the Bamboo Shoot project in Son La was chosen as the first stop. This is one of the projects sponsored by the Australian government within the framework of the program “Gender-Responsive Equitable Agriculture and Tourism (GREAT).

After 3 years of implementation, the project has guided and supported ethnic minority women to exploit bamboo shoots in natural plantations; to harvest, preliminary process and process bamboo shoots according to market standards and organic standards. In addition, the project has also provided advanced bamboo processing technology and tools; expanded the area for growing raw bamboo shoots; signed a business contract with an export company, consulted on the establishment of cooperative groups to produce clean bamboo shoots. At the same time, the project has supported the establishment of cooperatives, the construction of processing factories, solar drying houses; and supported in building the brand of organic bamboo shoots and forming bamboo shoot production links along the value chain between Farmers – Cooperative Groups – Cooperatives – Exporting companies with products processed from bamboo shoots that are exported to Japanese and Taiwanese markets.

The Bamboo Shoot project in Son La is proud to support more than 2,000 women engaging in the bamboo shoot value chain, among more than 6,500 Son La women who have raised their income thanks to the support of the Australian government. As a result of the project’s success, the Bamboo shoot value chain model has been expanded to four districts in Son La province: Sop Cop, Song Ma, Phu Yen, and Bac Yen, starting from three border communes in Van Ho district in 2019.

Ms. Robyn Mudie appreciated the efforts of the cooperative’s members after speaking with female leaders of Xuan Nha Bamboo and Tan Xuan Cooperatives. She also commended the cooperative’s management and members, as well as local leaders and CRED – the project implementation unit for efficiently utilizing Australian government funds to achieve outstanding outcomes.